Most lawyers will advise clients that Court should always be the last resort.  When direct negotiations are not likely to succeed, one alternative is Mediation.

A mediator is an independent, specially trained facilitator.   He or she controls the communication between the parties so that all conversation is directed towards solutions to the issues.   Mediation can occur between the parties alone or the parties can bring their counsel to have lawyer-assisted mediation.   Parties can agree to mediate one or two specific issues, or any number of outstanding matters.  The mediator’s role is to facilitate the dialogue between the parties, and to assist the parties in reaching their own resolutions.    The mediator will never impose a solution.

As a trained and experienced mediator, I maintain a neutral, independent and impartial role.  I also ensure that the dialogue between the parties is open, honest, respectful, future-focused and productive in that it is directed to the issues and resolutions.  Once an agreement is reached, that agreement is transferred onto paper and signed by the parties with their lawyers.

Mediation can be an inexpensive method to resolve outstanding issues.   There is no way to predict how long a mediation will take, it depends on the circumstances of the parties and the number of issues and concerns.   But there is also no way to predict how long negotiations or court applications will take or cost either.   Mediation is usually a better, faster and less expensive approach to resolving disputes.

Some of the advantages that can be realized by mediation over court applications and lawyer-assisted negotiations are:

• Costs are usually lessened and shared equally (for example, with lawyer-assisted negotiations or court applications - each of you pay your lawyer each time the lawyers talk to each other and then talk to you; with mediation you are paying one mediator, and you are splitting that cost and you talk directly to each other, so the total time to get a message and reply is also shortened);
• You are able to arrive at tailor-made agreements that you designed and that meet your specific needs
• The mediation process can proceed as quickly as you like it to;  There is no waiting for judges, court availability, lawyers schedules, etc.
• You are able to preserve your privacy; if you make court applications, and have a court judgment, that is on the public record and anyone can seek it out and read it.